I love spying on other people’s bookshelves, not only to judge their reading tastes (😆) but also to see how they organize things. I tend to re-arrange my overflowing shelves every few years and I’m about due. I currently have three primary categorizations:
I usually organise it in genres like the biographies go together but in subsets like the sports biographies go together, world leaders’ biographies, memoirs are stacked together and so on.
And I usually stack the ones I have read vertical and the ones on by TBR horizontal.
I “organize” my books by use (books I’ll refer and lend at eye level) then history within periods and geo-political areas, novels author, memoir by author… less referenced books at calf-level and the kids books at the bottom shelf so the grandkids can choose their own books (and put them back in the correct order by themselves) I mostly organize books in the way people take notes; to remember where they are. I can usually recall a passage or chapter in any book I’ve read — see it in my mind — and know where the book is in any shelf by doing this.
Once I was away for a week and a friend housesat for me, got bored and decided to organize my books for me, all by author. I couldn’t find a damn thing for weeks!!! It’s still funny years after… wasn’t funny when I got home and went to grab a book I KNEW I bought and couldn’t find, could see the cover clearly, just couldn’t remember the authors name!!! I have thousands of books….
I have the "stack of books I'm gonna read REALLY REALLY SOON" on my nightstand. The TV cabinet has "books I'm gonna read REALLY SOON." In a drawer of the dresser are "books I'm gonna read SOON."
In the bonus room built-in bookshelves, the lowest shelf has "books that are heavy enough to warrant storage at their lowest potential energy" like The Complete Far Side, coffee table books, The Complete Calvin & Hobbes. In different sections of the bookshelf are History (arranged by rough chronological order), Space Exploration (arranged by rough chronological order), Fiction (alpha by author), Hiking Guides (arranged by state or country as the primary sort and region/city as the secondary sort), Outdoors and Nature (alpha by author), and Graphic Novels (alpha by series title). Towards the top are Random Paperbacks (arranged by whimsy), Books of Sentimental Value (arranged by last time accessed), and Books that I Can't Possibly Part From Even Though I Will Never Read Them (arranged by how frequently I pick them up and think, "Am I ever going to read this?").
In my office is a special shelf of Lifetime Favorites (arranged by personal importance) and another shelf of Books that Make Me Look Smart on a Zoom Video Meeting.
In my Kindle are Books I'm Really Reading, as all other books are too difficult to access.
In my man cave, I have only sports books, organized by sport and accessorized by memorabilia associated with the sport. For example, college football books with mini helmets, old ticket stubs, etc. Office tends to have only business and leadership books. Main family room shelves tend to have current books being read — I tend to read many at once depending on mood at time. Then history books are in shelves by fire place ordered by events. … Wife has mystery books arranged by author in chronological order.
By geography. So everything from a particular continent goes on one shelf. Some shelves are more full than others. Just lets me know what part of the world I need to read more of from.
I organize nonfiction by Library of Congress call number. Fiction: anthologies by title, then all other by author in publication date order(with nonfiction about the author shelved with the author’s works). Unsurprisingly I’m a librarian
I used to use dewey decimal numbers, but there were a few categories that it didn't seem to make sense for. So I dropped it a few years ago. Overall, though, I like the idea of topical sections versus lumping it all together under a larger umbrella like "non-fiction."
My organization is by geography. Since I am running out of shelf space, I shelf fiction and nonfiction together as long as the geography is the same. I have an Asian, American, African, Middle East.
I also have a women writers shelf. It is very overwhelming, but oh ! How I love organizing and reorganizing
I organize in a similar way - by genre then by author, with a separate space for my “to read” pile. Psychology & self-help books are together, but tend to be arranged by topic rather than author, unless I have a few by the same author.
My bookshelves begin with ancient works such as poetry, histories, and philosophy, etc. and move on chronologically from there. Beyond that, I have my collection of Shakespeare and Jane Austen as well as my Norton anthologies then a shelf of educational psychology. The remaining bookcases contain fiction, organized alphabetically by author. Then non-fiction separated into a few sub-genres now that it’s growing more. I have a separate bookcase dedicated to high-end books and they’re just organized by size, mostly. One entire bookcase is dedicated to children’s literature. One of its shelves contain adaptations of classics for young readers. Those are organized chronologically. I have a growing collection of graphic novels organized by size for now and a separate bookcase dedicated to curriculum and subject-based books such as math and reading. Since I’m in need of more bookcases my other books are stacked in a corner of my library.
Any books that I have read get a green dot sticker on the spine. Those that I have read but not completed get a yellow dot. If a book is signed by the author it gets a blue dot.
I do not keep a separate TBR stack. That would only discourage me. For me it’s not about how many I’ve read but rather the pleasure of looking at my collection. If I want to read something I can take a book from a genre that I’m interested in at the moment.
"Any books that I have read get a green dot sticker on the spine. Those that I have read but not completed get a yellow dot. If a book is signed by the author it gets a blue dot."
I stopped collecting books years ago when I downsized and realized the amount of books I had. I still read a lot of books but always give them to someone I know who would find that book worth reading
I used to organize by color but as the new books piled up it’s just according to whatever I bought first 😂 But if I do rearrange it, I’d do the same - fiction and nonfiction then by author last name.
My living room wall is a bookcase countertop to ceiling and is my “main” bookcase, I have a couple elsewhere around the house.
Bottom row, all my cookbooks.
Second bottom row, all my favourite philosophy and science, biography and even fiction stories.
Middle shelf - the stuff I want to keep but doesn’t fit in my favourite shelf.
Top two shelves - all my favourite fiction from the last thirty years.
I use the bottom shelf daily and, in moments my kids probably sigh about, something (usually a cultural reference on the telly) will trigger me to jump up on the countertop and pull down something from the top two shelves and insist one of my kids read it.
Thinking about it, it needs a dusting and a reorganisation! *rubs hands together, cracks knuckles*
Ah, the "favorites" philosophy! I like the idea. Over time, it seems like my shelves end up inevitably housing mostly favorites, since I tend to give away stuff that I don't plan on re-reading or that I don't think much of.
100% agree! my bookcase isn’t all the books I’ve read. It’s books I’ve read, love and often read again.
I won’t lie, I did have a phase of “books I wanted people to see that I’ve read” in my twenties but now it doesn’t matter how low brow or “pop philosophy” the book is, if I’ve enjoyed it, it stays. Now books don’t make it only to my bookcase unless I’ve read it, hence the piles of good intentions scattered everywhere
We recently moved so I was able to re-organize all of our books. I use a hybrid approach. Non-fiction is organized by category: travel, biography, history (with a sub-categories of British monarchy, Canadian history and world history), art history, children's literature, etc. Then, I organized fiction by classics, mystery, and all the rest.
I do have one section organized by colour, actually it's more by publisher, which is Penguin. I included books in my collection that feature the iconic black covers with the white band that wraps around the spine and front cover. I've always loved these covers and typically love all these books. They are a pleasure to read and hold.
My husband has a whole other system, where his books are organized into sports history and music--which are mainly biographies and autobiography.
I also have a small collection of books in each guest bedroom, (which I designate by our adult children), and include books that I know each of our kids might enjoy.
I love organizing and browsing my books almost as much as reading them (LOL). It is one possession I feel that I can never have too many of.
I usually organise it in genres like the biographies go together but in subsets like the sports biographies go together, world leaders’ biographies, memoirs are stacked together and so on.
And I usually stack the ones I have read vertical and the ones on by TBR horizontal.
Oh that's a fun idea — I've never considered organizing by horizontal vs vertical.
But it is bad for hardbound books to be stacked horizontally.
I don't. It's all chaos.
Okay, I do a little but there's no set system to it. I know where everything is... so along as no one else tries to come and "organize."
haha love it.
I “organize” my books by use (books I’ll refer and lend at eye level) then history within periods and geo-political areas, novels author, memoir by author… less referenced books at calf-level and the kids books at the bottom shelf so the grandkids can choose their own books (and put them back in the correct order by themselves) I mostly organize books in the way people take notes; to remember where they are. I can usually recall a passage or chapter in any book I’ve read — see it in my mind — and know where the book is in any shelf by doing this.
Once I was away for a week and a friend housesat for me, got bored and decided to organize my books for me, all by author. I couldn’t find a damn thing for weeks!!! It’s still funny years after… wasn’t funny when I got home and went to grab a book I KNEW I bought and couldn’t find, could see the cover clearly, just couldn’t remember the authors name!!! I have thousands of books….
Ha! What a terrible prank.
I have the "stack of books I'm gonna read REALLY REALLY SOON" on my nightstand. The TV cabinet has "books I'm gonna read REALLY SOON." In a drawer of the dresser are "books I'm gonna read SOON."
In the bonus room built-in bookshelves, the lowest shelf has "books that are heavy enough to warrant storage at their lowest potential energy" like The Complete Far Side, coffee table books, The Complete Calvin & Hobbes. In different sections of the bookshelf are History (arranged by rough chronological order), Space Exploration (arranged by rough chronological order), Fiction (alpha by author), Hiking Guides (arranged by state or country as the primary sort and region/city as the secondary sort), Outdoors and Nature (alpha by author), and Graphic Novels (alpha by series title). Towards the top are Random Paperbacks (arranged by whimsy), Books of Sentimental Value (arranged by last time accessed), and Books that I Can't Possibly Part From Even Though I Will Never Read Them (arranged by how frequently I pick them up and think, "Am I ever going to read this?").
In my office is a special shelf of Lifetime Favorites (arranged by personal importance) and another shelf of Books that Make Me Look Smart on a Zoom Video Meeting.
In my Kindle are Books I'm Really Reading, as all other books are too difficult to access.
I love all your shelves, Carl. Thanks for sharing. :)
Ah the prioritised “going to read piles” is probably the only regular book sorting that I do
In my man cave, I have only sports books, organized by sport and accessorized by memorabilia associated with the sport. For example, college football books with mini helmets, old ticket stubs, etc. Office tends to have only business and leadership books. Main family room shelves tend to have current books being read — I tend to read many at once depending on mood at time. Then history books are in shelves by fire place ordered by events. … Wife has mystery books arranged by author in chronological order.
Fun! I also have multiple places for books around the house... none of it is *entirely* organized.
I do have some small spaces where there is no rhyme nor reason to the organization.
By geography. So everything from a particular continent goes on one shelf. Some shelves are more full than others. Just lets me know what part of the world I need to read more of from.
I organize nonfiction by Library of Congress call number. Fiction: anthologies by title, then all other by author in publication date order(with nonfiction about the author shelved with the author’s works). Unsurprisingly I’m a librarian
I used to use dewey decimal numbers, but there were a few categories that it didn't seem to make sense for. So I dropped it a few years ago. Overall, though, I like the idea of topical sections versus lumping it all together under a larger umbrella like "non-fiction."
I did this when my collection was 6,500 books. I’ve sold books off so it’s down to about 1,000 so is overkill now
Impressive Michael
My organization is by geography. Since I am running out of shelf space, I shelf fiction and nonfiction together as long as the geography is the same. I have an Asian, American, African, Middle East.
I also have a women writers shelf. It is very overwhelming, but oh ! How I love organizing and reorganizing
I organize in a similar way - by genre then by author, with a separate space for my “to read” pile. Psychology & self-help books are together, but tend to be arranged by topic rather than author, unless I have a few by the same author.
My bookshelves begin with ancient works such as poetry, histories, and philosophy, etc. and move on chronologically from there. Beyond that, I have my collection of Shakespeare and Jane Austen as well as my Norton anthologies then a shelf of educational psychology. The remaining bookcases contain fiction, organized alphabetically by author. Then non-fiction separated into a few sub-genres now that it’s growing more. I have a separate bookcase dedicated to high-end books and they’re just organized by size, mostly. One entire bookcase is dedicated to children’s literature. One of its shelves contain adaptations of classics for young readers. Those are organized chronologically. I have a growing collection of graphic novels organized by size for now and a separate bookcase dedicated to curriculum and subject-based books such as math and reading. Since I’m in need of more bookcases my other books are stacked in a corner of my library.
Any books that I have read get a green dot sticker on the spine. Those that I have read but not completed get a yellow dot. If a book is signed by the author it gets a blue dot.
I do not keep a separate TBR stack. That would only discourage me. For me it’s not about how many I’ve read but rather the pleasure of looking at my collection. If I want to read something I can take a book from a genre that I’m interested in at the moment.
"Any books that I have read get a green dot sticker on the spine. Those that I have read but not completed get a yellow dot. If a book is signed by the author it gets a blue dot."
Interesting! I like that idea.
I stopped collecting books years ago when I downsized and realized the amount of books I had. I still read a lot of books but always give them to someone I know who would find that book worth reading
I do plenty of that, too! I get so many books from publishers that there's just no way I can actually keep them all.
I usually organize by genre and I also have a bottom shelf of shame where books I didn’t like are stored.
haha I sort of have a bottom shelf as well, but it's for books that I plan on selling/giving away.
I used to organize by color but as the new books piled up it’s just according to whatever I bought first 😂 But if I do rearrange it, I’d do the same - fiction and nonfiction then by author last name.
I organize by genre, then alphabetical by author's last name within each category!
1. Fiction
2. My husband's non-fiction (business, psychology)
3. My non-fiction (linguistics, history, education)
4. Religious non-fiction
5. Cookbooks/coffee table books that are not currently on the coffee table
haha I like that you've differentiated yours vs your husband's non-fic. :)
My living room wall is a bookcase countertop to ceiling and is my “main” bookcase, I have a couple elsewhere around the house.
Bottom row, all my cookbooks.
Second bottom row, all my favourite philosophy and science, biography and even fiction stories.
Middle shelf - the stuff I want to keep but doesn’t fit in my favourite shelf.
Top two shelves - all my favourite fiction from the last thirty years.
I use the bottom shelf daily and, in moments my kids probably sigh about, something (usually a cultural reference on the telly) will trigger me to jump up on the countertop and pull down something from the top two shelves and insist one of my kids read it.
Thinking about it, it needs a dusting and a reorganisation! *rubs hands together, cracks knuckles*
Ah, the "favorites" philosophy! I like the idea. Over time, it seems like my shelves end up inevitably housing mostly favorites, since I tend to give away stuff that I don't plan on re-reading or that I don't think much of.
100% agree! my bookcase isn’t all the books I’ve read. It’s books I’ve read, love and often read again.
I won’t lie, I did have a phase of “books I wanted people to see that I’ve read” in my twenties but now it doesn’t matter how low brow or “pop philosophy” the book is, if I’ve enjoyed it, it stays. Now books don’t make it only to my bookcase unless I’ve read it, hence the piles of good intentions scattered everywhere
We recently moved so I was able to re-organize all of our books. I use a hybrid approach. Non-fiction is organized by category: travel, biography, history (with a sub-categories of British monarchy, Canadian history and world history), art history, children's literature, etc. Then, I organized fiction by classics, mystery, and all the rest.
I do have one section organized by colour, actually it's more by publisher, which is Penguin. I included books in my collection that feature the iconic black covers with the white band that wraps around the spine and front cover. I've always loved these covers and typically love all these books. They are a pleasure to read and hold.
My husband has a whole other system, where his books are organized into sports history and music--which are mainly biographies and autobiography.
I also have a small collection of books in each guest bedroom, (which I designate by our adult children), and include books that I know each of our kids might enjoy.
I love organizing and browsing my books almost as much as reading them (LOL). It is one possession I feel that I can never have too many of.
"classics, mystery, and all the rest." --> I've been considering something like that too.
I also love the Penguin classics books! The clothbound series is especially nice.
"I love organizing and browsing my books almost as much as reading them" --> I hear ya on that one!